Accounting for Lust (13 page)

Jake turned the photo over, but except for the make of paper faintly ingrained as watermark on the paper, it contained nothing further. He pressed the sheet of paper open.

Like father like son?
The letters sat askew, cut and pasted from newspapers and magazines.

“Son of a bitch.”

He left the items on the counter and rushed to his room to fetch
his
cellphone. One button connected him to Matt.

“We need to get to Cassie’s brother. Now.”

Explaining what he
found
, he heard Matt’s car start just before he severed the connection. Ten minutes later, a soft knock sounded on the door.

Jake let the forensic expert inside and pressed his finger over his lips.
While he waited for the expert to process the envelope and contents, Jake leaned against the doorframe and ran a hand over his hair.
He didn’t expect to find any evidence on the envelope.

Jake
let the
forensic expert
out
,
locked the door and turned out the lights.
Sinking down on the couch,
Jake recalled everything they
knew
about the perpetrator.

A thief
or blackmailer
never targeted
a whole family.
The security team found no unusual payments made from Graham Adams’ account and Cassie received no demands for money. Why would he attack Dorian, but not physically harm him?

No, this had to be something personal.
A
gainst whom? Cassie? A former lover? A disgruntled employee? A client she’d reported to the IRS? Jake shook his head. No.
Not
strong enough motives for the elaborate scheme of terror wielded by the culprit.

Her father? What had Gra
ham
Adams done in the past that could
piss someone off enough to
keep up the punishment even after his death? Were the theft of the money and these threats even related?
Jake rose from the couch and paced the floor.
He had to find answers
soon.
Cassie’s
safety
depended on the answers
.

Lost in thought he jumped when his phone rang.

“I’m coming over. We need to talk.” Jake nodded although Matt couldn’t see him.

“Just be quiet, Cassie needs her sleep.”

“I bet she does.” Matt disconnected the call before Jake
could
reply and Jake resisted the urge to throw the phone at the wall.
Instead, he shoved the phone
in his pocket and continued pacing the floor.

Cassie. In two days she’d become his world. A world skewed by danger and sex and nothing resemblin
g normality. For the first time
, protecting a client meant more than just solidifying the reputation of his business or the prosecution of a criminal intent on causing the government harm. He broke every rule in the book by
sleeping with
her, but he couldn’t find it in himself to feel any regret or censure. They were a combustible combination
. Until the passion reached burn-out
, he planned to enjoy the ride.
Regardless of what Matt said.

Jake opened the door to a panting Matt. They moved to the lounge and Matt slouched on the only single chair in the room.

“So?”

“The guy tied her brother up and took more demeaning pictures. The whole time he spoke only one sentence.”
Matt shifted in his seat.

Jake tilted his head to the side.
“Come on Matt, get it over with. We don’t have time for games.”

“Glad you finally realise
d
it.”

At Jake’s scowl he
sighed
. “All right, I just hope you know what you’re doing.”

Jake nodded. “So, what did he say?”

“You Adamses will pay.”

Jake sagged in his chair. “So he’s targeting the whole family.”

“Looks like it. And despite what Joshua thinks, this was not one of the board members.”

“Why not?”

“I met with the board yesterday after Cassie revoked their access to the accounts. None of them fit the description Dorian gave me.”

“
Dorian could describe the guy? I thought you said he wore a mask.”

“
He did. Dorian has an eye for detail. Must be due to his interior design business. According to him the man was six-five, lean, but with well developed shoulders, wore a Rolex on his right arm and shoes that cost thousand
s
.”

“So, why couldn’t it be a board member?”

“Dorian said he wore cheap aftershave and had a Southern accent.”

Jake shook his head incredulously. “So based on the cheap aftershave and accent you ruled out the board members?”

Matt’s eyes twinkled. “Not exactly. He also said he played golf with the board regularly and he can assure me, none of them has a body toned enough to wear a bodysuit.”

Jake frowned. “The guy wore a bodysuit?”

“Yep, complete with bulges protruding at the most inappropriate places, according to Dorian that is.”

Jake burst out laughing. “Dorian noticed this despite his fear of the man?”

“He said it was hard to miss as the guy had a hard-on while tying him to the bed.”

Shaking his head, Jake rose from the seat. “So we have a guy terrorising the whole family while stealing the company’s money. You still think it’s the same guy?”

“I do. These acts appear to be unrelated, but all targets one family. We have to dig deeper into their history to find the connection. He appears to get his kicks out of watching them squirm.”

They discussed the case for another hour or so until the sun peeked over the horizon. Jake let Matt out of the apartment and closed the door behind him. As he turned around, Cassie leaned against the wall of the passage.

“So he targeted Dorian now?” She hung her head and wrapped her arms around her midriff. “This is never going to end, is it?”

He reached her in a couple of strides and gathered her in his arms, lifting her face with his finger. “We’ll find him. He’ll make a mistake and we’ll take him down. I promise.”

Fear blossomed in Cassie’s eyes as he told her of the envelope and the subsequent events. At Matt’s reasoning about the board members, Cassie shook her head.

“It has to be one of them. No one else had access to the accounts. Just them and me and before me, my father.”

“I don’t know honey, but we’ll find out.”

Jakes stomach grumbled and Cassie scooted
out of his embrace
. He felt the loss like a physical pain.

“Let me get you something to eat. There’s some leftovers from
last night
. Would that do?”

“Yes that would be fine. Don’t bother heating it up, I’m more interested in another type of delicacy.”

The fear subsided a little from her eyes and a small flame of desire kindled in the blue depths. He would make her forget about the menace stalking her
.
She would have to deal with that reality soon enough. Today, they’d had more than their share of it. It was time to play.

Jake gobbled the
leftovers
, before he turned to Cassie. “Why don’t you run us a bath. The one in your bedroom looked big enough to accommodate both of us.”

Cassie walked to the bathroom in a daze. Never had she been so happy to see another person.
And it scared her.

While she knew him for
only
two days, the normally level-headed,
no-nonsense accountant
cared
more for the rough and tumble bodyguard than she liked to admit. She didn’t believe in love, especially not the love at first sight rubbish. So why did she
crave
slamming doors and breaking plates at the thought of him
leaving
?

Opening the taps, Cassie sat on the edge and watched the water swirl against the sides. Much like her thoughts, round and round with no beginning or end and definitely no solution. They were in an unusual situation and danger courted sex. Combine those facts with the fact that she’d been sex starved for more than ten months and it was a
miracle
she didn’t jump the first guy she’d laid her eyes on. Simple as that
.

Oh ye
a
h, the voice in her head whispered. So why
did
your heart rac
e
and your palms
dampen
whenever he as much as breathed on you? Oh
,
shut up. It was only sex,
nothing more.

Jake
peeked
round the door as she closed the taps. “Where do you keep your stash of toys?” To her amazement, she felt her cheeks warm. It was one thing to devour the man, but quite another to admit she hadn’t gotten enough before he arrived on the scene. Dammit Cassie, you’re a big girl. It wasn’t something to broadcast from the rooftops, but there was no shame in admitting you liked sex, the voice in her head chastised.

“Top drawer of the nightstand.” She pretended to test the heat of the water until he left. A soft whistle sounded from the bedroom. He’d found it.

Minutes later Jake came through the door, arm laden with a variety of dildo’s. Cassie squared her shoulders. So she liked to try new things. Nothing wrong with that.

“I think we’re going to shelve the idea of a picnic. You have way too many exciting things here I want to try.” He dumped his stash in the bath
and cupped her face in his hands. Pressing a kiss on her lips, he slid his tongue over her bottom one and had her melting inside. She grabbed on to the edge of the tub to stabilize her upturned equilibrium, but Jake wanted nothing of that. He pulled her to her feet and
backed
her
against the
wall.

Trapping her with his hands on either side of her head, Jake took her mouth in a kiss that curled her toes
in her sandals
. His tongue duelled with hers, intimately exploring the wet warmth of her mouth. She gasped for air when he lifted his head and stared into her eyes.

No denying it anymore.
She was in trouble.
She loved him. Irrevocably. They couldn’t have a happy-ever-after relationship. Neither she nor he believed in it.
And that’s w
hy her heart would break in a million pieces when his job was done and he left.

Tears stung behind her eyelids and she blinked them away. She will not let her overwrought emotions spoil the little time they had left. Jake caressed her cheek and the tenderness of the gesture constricted her throat. She returned th
e favour, sliding her palm over his cheek, memorizing the slight sting of his day-old beard, the feel of his lip under her thumb and the small cleft in his chin.

He dropped his hands to her shoulders, kneading the tense muscles before flattening his palms against her chest
and sliding them
toward her breasts
. His fingers
fumbled with the buttons of her blouse while his eyes never left hers. Capturing her mouth in a tender kiss
,
his fingers grazed the soft flesh under the blouse as he slowly undid
the buttons
. Cassie’s knees turned to jelly and she clung to his shoulders.

The blouse fell open and Jake slid his hands under the garment on her shoulders moving it off until she had to drop her hands to her sides to let it fall to the floor. With his forefinger
,
he followed the line of her bra from her shoulders to the rise of her breasts until he explored the valley between them. She took a shuddering breath
as his touch woke
every nerve ending to the point where her scalp tickled.

Unbuttoning her pants, he
undid
the zipper and
lowered
it over her hips. C
aressing every inch of her thighs, her knees, her calves
,
h
e lifted her feet and took
off her sandals
,
rubbing the slight indentations made by the thin straps. Cassie forgot to breathe and sagged against the wall.

Wearing only a
lace bra and thong
, her face heated as h
is eyes devoured her, stoking the fire kindling inside
her womb
. He kissed her again, a tender caress of his lips on hers, his hands working his own clothing.

“God, you’re beautiful.”

His husky declaration served to turn the fire in her veins into an inferno, threatening to consume her. She leaned into him as he unclipped her bra and let the straps drop. His musky, aroused scent mingled with the remnants of his aftershave. At last the garment dropped to the tiles and her breasts pressed against his
naked
chest, instantly tightening at the contact, the nipples budding.